Approved Minutes of the Faculty Senate Meeting

February 15th, 2006

http://www.scsu.ctstateu.edu/organizations/facultysenate

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The ninth meeting of the 2005-2006 year was called to order at 12:10 PM.

Members Present:

Emenyonu (Accounting), LaDousa (Anthropology), Slomba (Art), Vu (Art), Pang (Chemistry), Petroski (Communication), Jirsa (Com Disorders/MFT), DaPonte (Computer Science), Lawler (Counseling), Smith  (Couns/Sch Psych), Fullmer (Earth Science), Mills (Econ/Finance), Corbett (Education), Diamantis (Education), Madonia (Ed Leadership), Larocco (English), Blackmer (English), Johnson (English), Pelayo (Foreign Language), Piemontese (Foreign Language), Sakalowsky (Geography), Amerman (History), Madison (History), Dunklee (Journalism), McGinn (Library Science), Clerc (Library Services), Stepanovich (Management), Prince (Marketing), Dennis (Math), Brin (Math),  O’Brien (Media Studies), Aronson (Nursing), Roman (Part-time Faculty), Young (Part-time Faculty), Capone (Part-time Faculty), Gilliand (Philosophy), Enjalran (Physics), Buterbaugh (Political Science), Smith (Recreation/Leisure), Cusato (Science Ed/Env Stud), Dripchak (Social Work), Keenan (Social Work), Bloch (Sociology), Brucker (Special Ed/Reading), Major (Special Ed/Reading), Nye (Theatre)

Members Absent:

Maloney (Athletics), Lerud (Biology), Yang (Exercise Science), Rinehardt (Exercise Science), Kuss (Music), Wagner (Nursing), Anderson (Part-time Faculty), Sherman (Psychology), Brancazio (Psychology), Bulmer (Public Health)

The minutes of February 1st, 2006 were approved.

Guest Speaker:

• Dr. David Walsh, CSH-AAUP President was the guest speaker and he began by discussing the ongoing dialogue between AAUP and the administration concerning academic/personnel issues under Article 16 of the CBA.
• Following his presentation, he answered questions from the senators related to this issue as well as other issues critical to the academic mission of the university.

Announcements:

· Senator Gilliland announced that Gen Ed Taskforce has extended the deadline for the call for volunteers until February 17^th.

· Senator Nye highlighted the Theatre Department’s productions for the next two weeks.

· Senator Brucker announced a Conference on Assistive Technology to be held March 2^nd and 3^rd in the Ballroom of the Adanti Student Center.

President’s Report:

The President’s Report was distributed.  President DaPonte highlighted the following:

• President DaPonte reported on the breakfast meeting between the Executive Committee and the President and members of her cabinet.  Among items discussed was the ranking of candidates for academic positions.
• The Executive Committee approved the nominations of Senators Diamantis and Vu to the University Strategic Planning Committee.  President DaPonte also appointed Senator Major to the Search Committee for the new Police Chief.
• President DaPonte also reported on his meeting with Provost Williams discussing the 6^th year assessment, general education, strategic planning, low enrollment classes, and the employee climate survey.

UCF Update – Joe Fields

• Joe Fields presented the Senate with a handout highlighting the most recent UCF activities, including:
• An upcoming meeting with John Mattia and Ellen Beatty regarding the production of the Undergraduate Catalog,
• UCF is continuing to work on the Standards Document for Course Proposals and plans to complete it by the end of the semester.  The Senate Rules Committee has indicated that the Standards Document should be completed before considering whether to allow Schools to add to the Standards for course proposals by holding faculty referenda.
• The Gen Ed Task Force has put out a call for volunteers for Phase II of their work and has extended the deadline for volunteering until February 17^th.

Graduate Council Update – Jon Bloch

• The closing date for Graduate Fellowships is March 27^th.
• The Graduate Open House will be held on April 20^th.

Standing Committee Reports

• Academic Policy Committee
• Senator Bloch noted that the committee has a resolution under new business.

• Elections Committee
• Senator Corbett noted that the committee will be sending out an email call for nominations for the all university committees.

• Finance Committee
• Senator Lawler indicated that there was no report.

• Personnel Policy Committee
• The committee is continuing to work on the P&T document and Senator Johnson highlighted two areas needing attention,
• A mechanism is needed for faculty members to examine their files if there is a grievance, and …..

• Whether the weighting system used by the P&T Committee is mandatory or an option – the document is unclear as it indicates it is mandatory in section III.F.6.g.3 and is only suggested in section IV.C.3.

• Rules Committee
• Senator O’Brien noted that the Rules Committee recommended to UCF that the proposal to allow schools to add to the UCF Standards for Course Proposals was premature until the Standards Document is completed.

• Student Policy
• Senator Madonia noted that the committee will meet with the Vice President for Student and University Affairs, Dr. Ronald Herron, at its next meeting.

• Technology
• Senator Diamantis indicated that the committee has met with Dr. Chai

• FASP
• Senator Vu indicated that the committee had its first meeting of the spring semester last week and had an opportunity to meet with Provost Williams regarding how FASP would fit in with the ASP.
• President DaPonte reiterated that FASP is an ongoing committee and can only be terminated by a joint agreement between the senate and the administration.

Old Business

• There was no old business.

New Business

• Senator Larocco introduced a proposal to form an Ad Hoc Senate Committee to examine academic/personnel issues.  In discussing his proposal, Senator Larocco noted that these issues should be initially handled in the Provost’s office where they could be mediated before going to Human Resources.  He noted that the HR office appears to operate more on a “business” model than an “academic” model and does not mediate, but rather goes directly to an Article 16.  Senator Larocco noted that the “academic” model has been the traditional model used in the past at SCSU.
• Following discussion, President DaPonte appointed an Ad Hoc Senate Committee to bring forth a resolution at the March 1^st, 2006 senate meeting.  The committee consists of:  Senator Julian Madison, Senator Len Brin, Senator Emmanuel Emenyonu, Senator Brian Johnson, Senator Peter Madonia, Senator Steve Larocco, and Senator Pam Brucker.

• Senator Gilliland had proposed a discussion of background checks for new faculty, but this was covered in President DaPonte’s President’s Report.  Thus, Senator Gilliland withdrew his request.
• Senator Gilliand introduced a proposal look into the scheduling of student employment in relation to student class schedules.  He noted that many students are late for their classes because of work schedules and he felt that the student class schedule should take precedence over the work schedule.
• Following some discussion, President DaPonte referred this to the Student Policy Committee.

• Senator Bloch introduced the Academic Policy resolution regarding extending the deadline for final grade submission.  He noted that the current requirement that final grades are due 3-4 days following the final examination period is not realistic for many professors, especially those with on-line courses and those requiring extensive portfolio submissions as a final project.
• Following extensive discussion, even though the senate voted to extend the 1:45 cut-off time for resolutions, it was obvious that more time was needed for a comprehensive discussion. 
• President DaPonte entertained a motion to postpone the resolution until the March 1^st meeting where it will be the first order of business under Old Business.  This motion passed unanimously.

The senate adjourned at 2:00 PM.

Respectively Submitted,

Robert E. Jirsa, Ph.D.

Secretary of the Senate